New Zealand exports red meat worth $1.2 billion during April

New Zealand’s red meat sector continued its strong performance in April with overall exports worth $1.21 billion, a 34 per cent increase year-on-year with growth in almost all major markets.

The US was the largest market for the month with exports worth $344 million, up 39 per cent from last April.

This was followed by China at $253 million, up nine per cent, the UK at $81 million, up 56 per cent, the Netherlands with exports of $60 million, up 96 per cent, and Germany at $54 million, up 160 per cent.

Sirma Karapeeva, chief executive of the Meat Industry Association (MIA), said the latest export figures reflected the continued strong demand for red meat globally.

“This was slightly down from the record exports in March this year but still significantly higher than last April.

“This is great news for the New Zealand economy, especially for those rural and regional communities across the country that rely on the meat processing and exporting sector.”

“For sheepmeat, we’re seeing a continuing recovery in exports to China and strong demand in the EU, which achieved a record value for the region for a single month.”

While the volume of beef exports to the US was 5,000 tonnes lower than in March, that was more likely due to normal monthly fluctuations than the impact of the 10 per cent tariff.

“We’re still determining the full impact of the decision to impose a tariff on exports to the US.”

 The only major market where there was a decline in exports compared to last April was Japan, down four per cent to $50 million, which was due to a drop in beef and beef offal exports.

Sheepmeat

Overall sheepmeat exports in April were 41,843 tonnes worth $517 million, an increase of 13 per cent by volume and 51 per cent by value compared to last April.

 The volume of sheepmeat exports to China increased by six per cent to 17,461 tonnes and the value was up 34 per cent to $122 million.

There was an even larger increase to the EU, with the volume up 53 per cent to 8,689 tonnes and the value up 93 per cent to $167 million.

 The one major market where there was a small drop in sheepmeat volume was the UK, where exports were down three per cent to 4,589 tonnes. However, the value of exports to the UK was up 51 per cent to $64 million.

Sheepmeat exports to the US also increased 11 per cent by volume to 3,293 tonnes with value up 22 per cent to $67 million.

Beef

The volume of overall beef exports was down three per cent from last April to 42,421 tonnes, but the value was up 21 per cent to $473 million, largely due to strong demand in North America. The US was once again the largest market for the month with exports of 18,107 tonnes worth $228 million. This was a 10 per cent increase by volume and 38 per cent increase by value compared to last April.

Beef exports to China were down again 31 per cent by volume to 9,763 tonnes and 27 per cent by value to $71 million, but exports to Canada were up 40 per cent by volume to 2,865 tonnes and 77 per cent by value to $33 million.

There was a 26 per cent drop in the volume of exports to Japan, down to 2,832 tonnes. But with the demand in North America generally keeping prices up, the value of exports to Japan only dropped five per cent to $34 million.

Fifth quarter

It was also a good month for fifth quarter exports, with the value of all categories increasing from last April, and overall fifth quarter exports up 29 per cent to $221 million.

ENDS